Post by Moses on Jun 22, 2005 1:09:53 GMT -5
Ruling That Allows High Schools to Censor Student Publications Can Apply to Public Colleges, Federal Court Says
A 1988 Supreme Court decision that gave high-school administrators the authority to review and censor student publications is applicable to student newspapers at public colleges, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit made the ruling in finding that a dean at Governors State University had immunity from a lawsuit filed by the editors of The Innovator, the student newspaper at the Illinois institution.
The student editors had sued Patricia A. Carter, dean of student affairs and services at Governors State, after she told the newspaper's printer that a university official had to approve the content of the publication before it could be printed.
Ms. Carter, who did not dispute that claim, argued that the suit should be dismissed because of uncertainty about the constitutional protections to which college journalists are entitled. Her lawyers cited the 1988 Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which curtailed high-school students' First Amendment protections. Some free-speech groups have feared that the Hazelwood decision could be used to limit the rights of student journalists on college campuses.
A federal district court and a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit court both rejected Ms. Carter's bid for immunity, holding that Hazelwood did not apply to student newspapers at public colleges.
But in its 7-to-4 ruling on Monday, the full appeals court reversed that conclusion. The majority opinion, written by Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, says "that Hazelwood's framework applies to subsidized student newspapers at colleges as well as elementary and secondary schools."
"Let us not forget that academic freedom includes the authority of the university to manage an academic community ... free from interference by other units of government," Judge Easterbrook wrote.
The key question in deciding when Hazelwood applies, the opinion says, is whether the publication operates as "a designated public forum."
The ruling does not declare The Innovator to be such a forum but states that a trial court might reasonably conclude it to be one.
Even so, the court held that Ms. Carter was entitled to qualified immunity from damages sought by the plaintiffs because she was not "bound to know" that the paper could be considered a public forum.
The appeals court did not say whether or not Ms. Carter's actions had violated students' free-speech rights.
"What it did was ... muddy the water," said Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit group that provided plaintiffs from The Innovator with legal help. "A school that is looking for an excuse to censor and wants some legal principles to hang its hat on will use this ruling as a justification."
Officials at Governors State did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on Monday.
The full text of the court's decision is available online
— Eric Hoover
Chronicle of Higher Education
2005-06-21
chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/06/2005062104n.htm
A 1988 Supreme Court decision that gave high-school administrators the authority to review and censor student publications is applicable to student newspapers at public colleges, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit made the ruling in finding that a dean at Governors State University had immunity from a lawsuit filed by the editors of The Innovator, the student newspaper at the Illinois institution.
The student editors had sued Patricia A. Carter, dean of student affairs and services at Governors State, after she told the newspaper's printer that a university official had to approve the content of the publication before it could be printed.
Ms. Carter, who did not dispute that claim, argued that the suit should be dismissed because of uncertainty about the constitutional protections to which college journalists are entitled. Her lawyers cited the 1988 Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which curtailed high-school students' First Amendment protections. Some free-speech groups have feared that the Hazelwood decision could be used to limit the rights of student journalists on college campuses.
A federal district court and a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit court both rejected Ms. Carter's bid for immunity, holding that Hazelwood did not apply to student newspapers at public colleges.
But in its 7-to-4 ruling on Monday, the full appeals court reversed that conclusion. The majority opinion, written by Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, says "that Hazelwood's framework applies to subsidized student newspapers at colleges as well as elementary and secondary schools."
"Let us not forget that academic freedom includes the authority of the university to manage an academic community ... free from interference by other units of government," Judge Easterbrook wrote.
The key question in deciding when Hazelwood applies, the opinion says, is whether the publication operates as "a designated public forum."
The ruling does not declare The Innovator to be such a forum but states that a trial court might reasonably conclude it to be one.
Even so, the court held that Ms. Carter was entitled to qualified immunity from damages sought by the plaintiffs because she was not "bound to know" that the paper could be considered a public forum.
The appeals court did not say whether or not Ms. Carter's actions had violated students' free-speech rights.
"What it did was ... muddy the water," said Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit group that provided plaintiffs from The Innovator with legal help. "A school that is looking for an excuse to censor and wants some legal principles to hang its hat on will use this ruling as a justification."
Officials at Governors State did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on Monday.
The full text of the court's decision is available online
— Eric Hoover
Chronicle of Higher Education
2005-06-21
chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/06/2005062104n.htm